This chicken dish is made in a casserole or Dutch oven. Chicken thighs are seared until caramelized on the outside. Then, jasmine rice grains are sauteed in the rendered fat of the chicken for extra oomph. If you’re counting calories, you can opt to remove most of the fat before adding the uncooked rice to the pot.

Next, garlic, scallions, hoisin sauce, red wine, chicken stock and cranberries are added. The pot of chicken and rice then finishes cooking in the oven.

After resting for 10 minutes, lift the lid for one festive dish. The rice, which has turned a deep brown, is redolent of Asian flavors with a hint of fruitiness. The cranberries add a nice subtle tart contrast to the sweetness of the hoisin sauce.

If you’re used to picking up cranberries at this time of year merely for baking and relish-making, this dish will give you a whole new reason to stock up on an extra bag or two.

Cranberry-Hoisin Chicken ‘N’ Rice

(Serves 4)

2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil

8 chicken thighs with skin

Kosher salt and freshly ground black peppber

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 bunches scallions, sliced thin

2 cups jasmine rice

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup fresh cranberries

3 cups fresh chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth

Preheat 375 degrees.

Choose a large ovenproof casserole with a tight-fitting lid and place the casserole over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat bottom. When oil is hot, add chicken, in batches if necessary. Season with salt and pepper and saute on all sides until lightly colored, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add garlic and scallions to the casserole and saute, stirring, for 1 minute. Add rice and saute, stirring, for 1 minute. Add hoisin sauce and saute for 30 seconds. Add wine, deglaze, and simmer until liquid is reduced by three quarters, about 2 minutes. Add cranberries and stock and season with salt and pepper. Return chicken to casserole and bring to a simmer.

Cover the pot, transfer to the oven, and cook until the chicken is tender and the rice is cooked, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Bring pan to the table and serve.

The oxtail recipe looks quite good and this chicken and cranberries it something i would love to sit down to also. Ming Tsai is always a pleasure to watch on tv. When i lived in NJ he was readily available on tv, but except for a few competition shows over the past few years it hasn’t been easy to find him. So, thank you for the treat.

I just made this dish. The chicken was moist and absolutely delicious. I didn’t have fresh cranberries so used dried….the dish overall was nice but was missing something….fresh cranberries! With fresh cranberries I would serve this to guests, without, it makes a nice weeknight meal.